When it was time for the boys to go outside, Charlie would jump up from their cushions and trot to the door leading out into the garden and once outside he would enjoy wondering around for quite some time. Freddie would remain in situ and I would have to go and get him myself, otherwise he would not go outside at all. I would tell him that he couldn’t stay on the cushions all day and he had to go outside for some fresh air. Although he did as he was told, he would only pop outside for a few minutes before returning to his favourite spot on the cushions.
The boys were always very good and well behaved. They had lovely temperaments and their lips seemed to be fixed in a permanent wide smile which was very endearing and made them look eternally happy.
When it was time to eat or go for a walk, to my amusement the boys would start to sing with excitement. It was a unique sound, not like a howl at all it was more akin to a high pitched hum and not something I have never heard any other breed of dog emit. It does seem particular to this breed and several people have posted film clips of their Cavalier King Charles Spaniels singing on YouTube. They do not throw their heads back in the typical posture that most dogs adopt to do a wolf howl instead they appear to be quite relaxed and hold their heads normally while moving their lips and emitting their unique sound.
When other dogs are collected at the end of their stay, a few of them will bark with excitement when they see their family arrive to pick them up. Amusingly when Charlie and Freddie’s mum came to collect them instead of barking the boys would climb into her car singing their little hearts out all full of excitement to be going home.